Dave Johnson (swim Coach)
Dave Johnson (born 1951 in Montreal) is the former head coach for Swimming Canada, serving in that capacity from 1993 to 2004. His twin brother Tom is currently a coach for Swim Canada. Dave Johnson is currently the head coach of the Cascade Swim Club in Calgary.
Johnson became head coach in 1988 after Don Talbot was dismissed by the Canadian Olympic Committee. Johnson oversaw the coaching of the national swim program for three Olympic Games: Atlanta (1996), Sydney (2000) and Athens (2004).
Following the Athens Games, Mark Tewksbury suggested there was a lack of accountability at Swimming Canada, and that Johnson was given too much power, noting that Canada's success in the pool during the 1980s and early 1990s was due to regional swim clubs rather than the national swim centres that were in place in 2004.
Shortly after the Athens Olympics, Swimming Canada president Rob Colburn dismissed Johnson. Johnson said that his firing represented "a knee-jerk reaction" to a problem that has been coming for quite some time.
Johnson was succeeded by Pierre Lafontaine, a former Talbot protege, and Team Canada turned in improved results at the 2005 World Aquatics Championships.
Read more about Dave Johnson (swim Coach): Appointment of Canada's First Female Olympic Swim Coach
Famous quotes containing the word johnson:
“BOSWELL. But what do you think of supporting a cause which you know to be bad? JOHNSON. “Sir, you do not know it to be good or bad till the Judge determines it.... It is his business to judge; and you are not to be confident in your own opinion that the cause is bad, but to say all you can for your client, and then hear the Judge’s opinion.”
—Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)